Department of Psychology
PAS building, room 3020
Tel 519-888-4567 Ext. 42813
Fax (519) 746-8631
Email psych@uwaterloo.ca
Letters of recommendation (also referred to as reference letters) are often required when applying for employment and/or admission to studies beyond the Bachelor's degree, and provide details about your potential for success.
Think carefully regarding who you will approach for recommendation letters (e.g., past or future contacts that you will make) and the types of letters needed for your particular goals (e.g., academic references, references for volunteer or paid positions related to a particular field, character references, etc.).
Contact Psychology faculty members (also referred to as advocates or referees in this context) who are the most familiar with your skills and abilities, particularly those relating to your future goals, and ask if they would be willing to write you a recommendation letter.
It is difficult for someone to be an advocate regarding your skills, abilities, and potential for future success if he/she does not know you well.
Instructors for large courses where the grading was based only on multiple choice tests/exams would not be your best choice for a referee even if you did very well in the course. Those instructors will probably only be able to speak about your final grade in relation to others in the class.
Suggest that you approach faculty members for courses where you earned grades over 79% and had one or more of the following experiences:
The more contact a faculty member has with you the more he/she can say about you in a reference letter.
Don't leave networking with faculty members until your final year.
Ways to network with faculty members include:
Give faculty members sufficient notice that recommendation letters are needed and include the following with your request:
Department of Psychology
PAS building, room 3020
Tel 519-888-4567 Ext. 42813
Fax (519) 746-8631
Email psych@uwaterloo.ca
The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is centralized within our Office of Indigenous Relations.